Animated toy



Aug. 3, 1943. E. LE BLANC 2,325,689

ANIMATED TOY Filed Dec. 17 1942 X; JizuM/ar:

1%! lib/1011410191040 these members by springs I.

Patented Aug. 3, 1943' ANIMATED T Y' V V Edmond IteBlanc MontreaLQuebec,Canada Application D cember 17 1942; Serial No. 469,283 v 2 Claims. I(et ics-42y v 2 The present invention pertains to an animated toyoperating automatically after having been set in motion and giving theappearance of being operated byfigures' of human beings.

e The motive power is derived from ballsrolling down a series of chutes.At the final chute. the

ball actuates linkage which-instum operates a selective release and stopmeans for delivering one ball at a. time from the uppennost chute.

Parts of the apparatus areattached to light weight, articulated ifigures to "present the illusion rnentionedabove. i i i chute, "whilethe vextremity of the lever engages tandretain thenextball. a e

"Hin edly suspended from and 23 across the I e railsla flap 29liesloverthe chute8 to be swung by a ball rolling down thelatter. Theflapis attached to an articuiatefigure 30, imparting an r animatedmotionthereto. -To the upper struc- T'Ihe invention is iullydisclosedway ex- 1 t f ample in the. following,descriptionand intheaccompanyingdrawing in which? Figure 1.v is a perspectiveviewofthedevicej Figure 2 is a detail vertical section; F'igu're 3isanother detail vertical section; and Figure 4 is a detail plan view. a

* Reference to'these views will now be made b use jot likecharacterswhich are employed to J designate corresponding partsthroughout. The framework of the toy includes a flat base a figure 32and downwardly to apoint o'I .attach-" mer t to one of the rails3, asshown in Figure 3. 1 In theoperation of the de vice, motionmay beinitiated by manually pressing the receptacle I11 downward. The link2listhus shifted upward,

lvtrom which extend a pair oi'tuprightsl 2. Across 1 a the upperendsofthe uprightsare laid a pair of rails 3, parallel to each other andhorizontal."

; Q Vertic l bars 4 are secured to the rails at one end and supportone-end oia chute 5. A pair of opposed fork members 3 are mountedon therails, and the lower end of thechute is suspended from t v Beneaththe'lower end of thechute 5,. the upi rights 2 supportta slopingichute 3having an opening 9 in its lower end. Beneath ,this end is another chuteIll having an'opening II in its extending from one of the upri ht-s2.

lower end. Beneath this end; in tum is aslopf ing platform l2 heopposite upright: has journaled; therein a 1 v drum l3 on ahorizontalaxis. Radial vanes. ll. 7 e divide thedrum intoradial pockets l5.Across;

the axis of the drum isbalanced a beam l6 carr ing a receptaclel'ladjacent to the platiorm I 2.

the remaining end of the beam l6...

A link 2| is hinged at :2 ti;- thedrum l3 and .extendsupwardly. Theupperend is hingedat 23 to a lever 24 iulcrumed at 25, as shownrnore clearlyin Figure 2. The lever terminates at the: lower end of chute 5 andcarriesadownwardly extending stop 26 near the extremity. In thefull-line positiorrjthe stophoids a rowoi balls e y :1 from remn e r thechute. As the link2l 1 a v raisedlto move the lever to the dotted-linposi- ,A lateral extension I! from thebase carries articulated figure l3having arms pivotedto' 45 beam journalled insaidstructure and having onetion; the :stop ermits the first ball to roll en the ture is fixed thefigure 3| ofa man having the appearance of directing the proceedings.

The link 2| hasan upward extension zlf which carries the figure32 of arooster in an aggressive position and constructed of a flexible materialin sheet form. The figure hasa movable win 33.

The head of the figure is joined by a string to arearward-fixedportionfl of. the frame, structure. The wing 33 issuspended from a string-36 extending upwardly over theupper edge or theand the figure I9 is moved as it operating the;

apparatus. i The link tilts thelever 24 to.releasel,; .the first ball 21as previously described. This ball drops to the chute 8,thenjto chutei0, platform l2and receptacle IIjto repeat the movement of;

beam IB and the;cycle initiated thereby.- There after these cycles occurautomatically until the supply of balis isexhausted;

The upward shift oi'link fl and extension 2| 7 raises the body oithefigure 32 againstthe string 33,-therebyflausing thawing 33; to flap.The V head, however; is held nearly stationary bythe I Q string 34; sothat the figure'has the appearance ofa fighting cook.

Although a specific embodiment or the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, it will 1 be understood that various alterations in thedetails of construction may be made without ,de-

parting mm the scope of the invention as marcated byjthe appendedclaims.What'I claim as my invention is: a

'ture, a series ofiintercommunicating chutes supported. thereby andsloping downwardly; from each other, in downward succession, a balancedendbeneath the lower end of the lowest chute,fa

receptacle on said end oi'said'beam and adapted to receiveamemberrollingoff the lowest chute, a selective release and stop member'atthe lower 1end otthe uppermost chute, and a link connecting said beam to said stopmember adapted 31. An animatedjtoy comprising a framestrucfigure.

to operate said stop lnember, a, flexible animal figure carried by saidlink strings'connecting parts ofrsaid figure. to said structure, wherebymotions of rthe link imparts-movement to the said 2. An animated toycomprising a frame structure, a series of intercommunicating chutessup-' portedthereby and sloping downwardly from each other in downwardsuccession abalanced beam jouxnallediin saidstructureand having one endbeneath the Tldwie r end of the {lowest chute, a receptacle on said endof said beam and adapted to receive armember rolling ofi? the lowestchute,

a selective release and stop member at the lower end' of the uppermostchute, a link connecting said beam to said stop member and adapted to,

operatesaid stop member, and an articulated figwe carried by saidstructure and hinged to the remaining end of .said beam, a flexibleanimal figure carried by said link, strings connecting parts of saidfigure to saidstructure, whereby motion of .the link imparts movementtothe said figure; r

EDMOND LE BLANC.

